GRAND AM: Weaver Captures Third-Straight Pole, Field Earns First-Ever Front Row Start

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

April 21, 2001

Four Track Records Broken in Qualifying

PHOENIX, Ariz. - James Weaver continued to dominate the field during qualifying for the Sun Automotive 200, breaking the track record by nearly 1.5 seconds to capture his third-straight pole today. Weaver clocked a record-breaking 52.747-second lap at 103.747 mph in the Dyson Racing Team's #16 Ford Riley & Scott. Also sitting on the front row will be Intersport Racing's Jon Field in the #37 Judd Lola. Field's 53.672-second lap earned him his first-ever appearance on the front row.

Scottsdale (Ariz.)-resident Didier Theys qualified the #27 Doran Lista Racing Judd Crawford on the inside second row with a 54.234 lap, while last year's champion, Jack Baldwin, clocked the fourth-fastest time in the #74 Robinson Racing Judd Riley & Scott.

Chris Bingham will lead the GTS field on Saturday in the Fordahl Motorsports #5 Saleen S7R, which is looking for its second-straight Rolex Series victory after winning in Homestead last month. Bingham broke the GTS-class track record with a 59.389-second lap. However, the #99 Schumacher Racing Porsche GT1 qualified less than 0.8 seconds back from the Saleen, proving it will also be a top contender on Saturday night.

For the second-straight race Craig Conway took the #09 Flis Motorsports Team X-1R Corvette to the front of the American GT pack, clocking a 1:00.365. The #11 Hamilton Safe Camaro will start second in the class.

A second Fordahl Motorsports car, this time in the GT class, took top honors in the GT class as #15 Porsche GT3 RS recorded a 1:00.080 lap, breaking the track record by 0.8 seconds. Randy Pobst piloted the car to the record-breaking time. Kim Hiskey, the only female driver in the Series, will join him in the Porsche during Saturday's race.

Andy Lally took the Archangel Motorsport Services' #21 Nissan Lola too the front of the SportsRacing Prototype II field with another record-breaking time of 56.389 seconds. Archangel's second Lola, the #22, will start second in the class. Archangel hopes to become the first-ever SRP team to capture both first and second place in their class on Saturday night.

The green flag will fall on Phoenix International Raceway to start the Sun Automotive 200 at 7 p.m. PT. The 200-mile race, with a three-hour maximum time limit, can be seen live on Speedvision. The Grand American Road Racing will also offer online live timing and scoring on its web site at www.grand-am.com.

Text provided by Christie Hyde

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.